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Mickey Mouse
with a Mickey tshirt]] theme park map featuring Mickey in a promotional photo republished in The Muppets 2008 Day-at-a-Time Calendar.]] ).]] Mickey Mouse is one of the world's best known cartoon characters, created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928 as Disney's new star, following the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Charles Mintz and Universal Studios. Though his first produced film was the silent short Plane Crazy, Mickey made his theatrical debut in Steamboat Willie, which has the distinction of being the first sound cartoon short. Background Mickey Mouse (voiced primarily by Walt Disney, until sound effects artist James MacDonald took over in 1946) went on to star in dozens of theatrical cartoons, and in 1932, Disney received an Honorary Special Academy Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Four of Mickey's starring shorts also received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Short Subject. Fred Moore, one of the key animators on Mickey, described the character in a 1930s analysis sheet for studio artists: The character's fame soon extended into merchandise, his own comic strip (launched in 1930, and featuring a more intrepid Mickey), and a short-lived radio series, The Mickey Mouse Theatre of the Air (1938). Gradually, Mickey was overshadowed by the more volatile Donald Duck as the studio's main star and by the 1950s, Mickey was reduced to playing foil to his own dog, Pluto. One of his most notable later appearances was his star turn as "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in Fantasia (1940). As his cinematic star declined, Mickey gained a new lease as the mascot and host of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club, the title song to which sings the Mouse's praises. The series in many ways marks the early stages of the mouse's transition from movie star to corporate symbol of the Walt Disney Company. Wayne Allwine, MacDonald's former apprentice, took over as the voice of Mickey in the 1970s, vocalizing the mouse's sporadic theatrical comebacks (such as Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1984 and The Prince and the Pauper in 1990) as well as various TV appearances. Mickey continues to appear in walk-around form as ambassador at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, returned to TV on Mickey MouseWorks and The House of the Mouse, and has been re-incarnated for CG animation as the star of the Disney Channel series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Jim and Mickey Jim Henson was a known admirer of the works of Walt DisneyInches, Alison. Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles. p. 13 and occasionally spoke of Mickey when discussing or even developing his own characters. Caroll Spinney recalled that when he asked Henson how Big Bird should sound, the latter said "maybe like Mickey Mouse's pal Goofy."Spinney, Caroll. The Wisdom of Big Bird. p. 32 Designer Kermit Love later compared the bird and the mouse, claiming that "Like Mickey Mouse, he never gives in to violence."Toronto Star, May 16, 1986. Kermit the Frog, as the most iconic Muppet and the leader and "straight man" of his troupe, has often been likened to Mickey, and Henson himself compared the two, not as personalities, but as similar abstractions. He discussed how Kermit became "a bit rounder, a bit more froglike. As a parallel, Mickey Mouse looks nothing like a mouse, but he fits into that category. I mean, if nobody ever said Mickey Mouse was a mouse, we wouldn't know what he was, would we?"Commire, Anne and Donna Olendorf. "Jim Henson." Something About the Author. Gale Publishing, 1986. p. 127 Henson even kept a Mickey figurine on the fireplace mantel in his officeSt. Pierre, Staphine. The Muppets Big Book of Crafts. p. 65 During the first aborted Disney sale in 1989, Michael Eisner discussed the company's expected ownership of Kermit by saying "Mickey Mouse has a new sibling, and he's going to have to get used to it."USA Today, August 29, 1989. Appearances * Mickey (voiced by Allwine) met Kermit the Frog and the Muppets in the 1990 special, The Muppets at Walt Disney World. Kermit remarked that he and the mouse already knew each other from an organization called FASA: Fictional Animal Stars of America. * "Kermit's Christmas Diary" from Jim Henson's Muppets Annual 1982 establishes that Mickey and Kermit are also members of another club for fictional characters called POPCORNS: People Other People Consider to be Other than Real Normal Specimens. * Walk-around versions of Mickey and Minnie appear in a sequence with Miss Piggy in The Disney Christmas Special. Piggy sings "Some Day My Prince Will Come," and fails to notice the royal mice among the human dancers. * Mickey and Kermit spoke via picture phone in the "Here Come the Muppets" stage show at Walt Disney World. * In the theme park film Muppet*Vision 3D, the character Waldo C. Graphic morphs into Mickey Mouse at the end. Wayne Allwine again provides Mickey's voice. References * In a scene from The Great Santa Claus Switch, a Mickey Mouse toy can be seen on the shelf in Santa's workshop. * In episode 122 of The Muppet Show, Kermit sings "You're the Top" with Ethel Merman, who closes a stanza with "You're Mickey Mouse!" Kermit's response: "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" * A Sesame Street cartoon, "The Noble Ostrich," features a fleeting cameo by a mouse drawn to resemble Mickey, complete with black and white face, red pants, and yellow shoes. * Ernie peers in on a toy Mickey on the cover of a 1979 Child Guidance catalogue. * Kermit, Fozzie and Robin take a trip to Disneyland in a Muppet comic strip by Guy and Brad Gilchrist. Robin is set on capturing Mickey Mouse as a souvenir for his friends. * The Summer 1983 issue of Muppet Magazine collects a number of letters sent from the Muppets to Kermit while on summer vacation. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew spends five days at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World, and reports on what he assumes to be headsets for receiving and sending radio transmissions. His notes include a sketch of the contraption, which turn out to be Mickey Mouse ears. * The Summer 1990 issue of WD Eye, the employee magazine for Walt Disney Imagineering, featured a section with a series of tributes to Jim Henson shortly after his death. One such tribute depicts Mickey Mouse consoling Kermit the Frog on the loss of his creator. Art was credited to Joe Lanzisero and Tim Kirk. * In the "Muppet Campaign" sketch produced for Good Morning America in 1992, Miss Piggy and Gonzo field questions from Howard Straighttalk in a mock debate for a Presidential election. Piggy is distressed that she's asked about such difficult topics as unemployment and the national debt while Gonzo got what she describes as a "Mickey Mouse question." Entering from off stage, Kermit butts in to attest that Mickey Mouse is a friend of his, "and I assure you, that question was no Mickey Mouse." This also serves as an additional reference to the famous "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" line often exchanged in variation from the 1988 vice-presidential debate between Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle. * In Muppet Treasure Island, Polly Lobster remarks, "What's next? A singing, dancing mouse with his own amusement park?" as an obvious reference to Mickey Mouse. * Rizzo the Rat has appeared as Mickey on four occasions. ** In the pre-show for Muppet*Vision 3D, Rizzo dresses up in a black tuxedo jacket, red shorts and yellow bow tie and claims to be Mickey Mouse, welcoming tourists to his park. ** He also masqueraded as Mickey in promotional interstitials on the Disney Channel in 1997, as Muppets Tonight began its run on the channel. (pictured) ** In 2008, the image of Rizzo as Mickey appeared on a Disney pin alongside Mickey to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Rat. ** A t-shirt released in 2008 for Disney Hollywood Studios features yet another likeness of Rizzo as Mickey. * When Santa Claus decides to retire to Florida in Elmo Saves Christmas, one of his elves has prepared for a visit to Walt Disney World by donning a set of Mickey ears. * During the months between Disney's acquisition of the Muppets and the launch of their new version of Muppets.com, the website housed a placeholder featuring Kermit wearing the famous mouse ears hat fashioned after Mickey. * Gonzo cites the guys he hangs around with, "Mick" and "Don" (Donald Duck), as his inspirations in the Muppets on Muppets interviews. * In a Walt Disney World exclusive pin, Kermit is dressed as Mickey Mouse, and referred to as Kermit the Mouse. Parodies * A parody of Mickey, Mickey Moose, appears in episode 220 of The Muppet Show. * The Mickey Mouse Club has occasionally been spoofed, through the likes of The Kermit the Frog Club on Muppets Tonight and such Sesame Street groups as the Grouchketeers, the Birdketeers and several other variations. * When the Walt Disney Company purchased the Muppets from The Jim Henson Company, the event found its way into satire by way of political cartoons, such as this one by Anthony Diberardo. * Saturday Night Live parodied Mickey during an April 2006 episode, in an animated "TV Funhouse" segment. Mickey is revealed to have kept Jim Henson locked away in the Disney Vault because he wouldn't sell the company to Disney. Sources Category:Celebrities Category:Animated Characters Category:Cartoon References